The happy, goofy days of "Jon and Kate Plus 8" -- when the overwhelmed but cheerful spouses Jon and Kate Gosselin seemed bonded for life as they minded their brood of eight small children -- feels like a lifetime ago. In the latest update with Jon three years after their marriage ended, the former TLC star confirms in a new Oprah Winfrey interview that he and Kate are virtual strangers.

"I don't really have a relationship with Kate. It's more texting, custodial stuff. I wish her the best in all that she does," Jon, 36, says. Now making ends meet as a waiter at a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania, Jon and Kate, 38, now share custody of twins Cara and Mady, 13, and 9-year-old sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel -- but it sounds like the former spouses are quietly at odds.

For her part, Kate told Bethenny Frankel last month that she felt "sadness and empathy and pity" for her ex, and hinted that co-parenting remains something of a strain. "Without going into to much detail, we are making the best of it," she said. "I definitely want them to know that I did not want to hinder or stand in the way of that relationship with him."

Add Jon in the OWN interview: "[We have] two different totally parenting styles, two different totally everythings. Which is a shame. Because it affects me. But it really affects my children."